Esther 3–5

¹After these things hath the king Ahasuerus exalted Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and lifteth him up, and setteth his throne above all the heads who are with him, ²and all servants of the king, who are in the gate of the king, are bowing and doing obeisance to Haman, for so hath the king commanded for him; and Mordecai doth not bow nor do obeisance. ³And the servants of the king, who are in the gate of the king, say to Mordecai, ‘Wherefore art thou transgressing the command of the king?’ ⁴And it cometh to pass, in their speaking unto him, day by day, and he hath not hearkened unto them, that they declare it to Haman, to see whether the words of Mordecai do stand, for he hath declared to them that he is a Jew. ⁵And Haman seeth that Mordecai is not bowing and doing obeisance to him, and Haman is full of fury, ⁶and it is contemptible in his eyes to put forth a hand on Mordecai by himself, for they have declared to him the people of Mordecai, and Haman seeketh to destroy all the Jews who are in all the kingdom of Ahasuerus—the people of Mordecai.

⁷In the first month—it is the month of Nisan—in the twelfth year of the king Ahasuerus, hath one caused to fall Pur (that is the lot) before Haman, from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth, it is the month of Adar. ⁸And Haman saith to the king Ahasuerus, ‘There is one people scattered and separated among the peoples, in all provinces of thy kingdom, and their laws are diverse from all people, and the laws of the king they are not doing, and for the king it is not profitable to suffer them; ⁹if to the king it be good, let it be written to destroy them, and ten thousand talents of silver I weigh into the hands of those doing the work, to bring it in unto the treasuries of the king.’ ¹⁰And the king turneth aside his signet from off his hand, and giveth it to Haman son of Hammedatha the Agagite, adversary of the Jews; ¹¹and the king saith to Haman, ‘The silver is given to thee, and the people, to do with it as it is good in thine eyes.’ ¹²And scribes of the king are called, on the first month, on the thirteenth day of it, and it is written according to all that Haman hath commanded, unto lieutenants of the king, and unto the governors who are over province and province, and unto the heads of people and people, province and province, according to its writing, and people and people according to its tongue, in the name of the king Ahasuerus it hath been written and sealed with the signet of the king, ¹³and letters to be sent by the hand of the runners unto all provinces of the king, to cut off, to slay, and to destroy all the Jews, from young even unto old, infant and women, on one day, on the thirteenth of the twelfth month—it is the month of Adar—and their spoil to seize, ¹⁴a copy of the writing to be made law in every province and province is revealed to all the peoples, to be ready for this day. ¹⁵The runners have gone forth, hastened by the word of the king, and the law hath been given in Shushan the palace, and the king and Haman have sat down to drink, and the city Shushan is perplexed.

Chapter 4

¹And Mordecai hath known all that hath been done, and Mordecai rendeth his garments, and putteth on sackcloth and ashes, and goeth forth into the midst of the city and crieth—a cry loud and bitter, ²and he cometh in unto the front of the gate of the king, but none is to come in unto the gate of the king with a sackcloth-garment. ³And in every province and province, the place where the word of the king, even his law, is coming, a great mourning have the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and lamenting: sackcloth and ashes are spread for many. ⁴And young women of Esther come in and her eunuchs, and declare it to her, and the queen is exceedingly pained, and sendeth garments to clothe Mordecai, and to turn aside his sackcloth from off him, and he hath not received them.

⁵And Esther calleth to Hatach, of the eunuchs of the king, whom he hath stationed before her, and giveth him a charge for Mordecai, to know what this is, and wherefore this is. ⁶And Hatach goeth out unto Mordecai, unto a broad place of the city, that is before the gate of the king, ⁷and Mordecai declareth to him all that hath met him, and the explanation of the money that Haman said to weigh to the treasuries of the king for the Jews, to destroy them, ⁸and the copy of the writing of the law that had been given in Shushan to destroy them he hath given to him, to shew Esther, and to declare it to her, and to lay a charge on her to go in unto the king, to make supplication to him, and to seek from before him, for her people. ⁹And Hatach cometh in and declareth to Esther the words of Mordecai, ¹⁰and Esther speaketh to Hatach, and chargeth him for Mordecai: ¹¹‘All servants of the king, and people of the provinces of the king, do know that any man and woman, who cometh in unto the king, unto the inner court, who is not called—one law of his is to put them to death, apart from him to whom the king holdeth out the golden sceptre, then he hath lived; and I—I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.’ ¹²And they declare to Mordecai the words of Esther, ¹³and Mordecai speaketh to send back unto Esther: ‘Do not think in thy soul to be delivered in the house of the king, more than all the Jews, ¹⁴but if thou keep entirely silent at this time, respite and deliverance remaineth to the Jews from another place, and thou and the house of thy fathers are destroyed; and who knoweth whether for a time like this thou hast come to the kingdom?’ ¹⁵And Esther speaketh to send back unto Mordecai: ¹⁶‘Go, gather all the Jews who are found in Shushan, and fast for me, and do not eat nor drink three days, by night and by day; also I and my young women do fast likewise, and so I go in unto the king, that is not according to law, and when I have perished—I have perished.’ ¹⁷And Mordecai passeth on, and doth according to all that Esther hath charged upon him.

Chapter 5

¹And it cometh to pass on the third day, that Esther putteth on royalty, and standeth in the inner-court of the house of the king over-against the house of the king, and the king is sitting on his royal throne, in the royal-house, over-against the opening of the house, ²and it cometh to pass, at the king’s seeing Esther the queen standing in the court, she hath received grace in his eyes, and the king holdeth out to Esther the golden sceptre that is in his hand, and Esther draweth near, and toucheth the top of the sceptre. ³And the king saith to her, ‘What—to thee Esther, O queen? and what thy request? unto the half of the kingdom—and it is given to thee.’ ⁴And Esther saith, ‘If unto the king it be good, the king doth come in, and Haman, to-day, unto the banquet that I have made for him;’ ⁵and the king saith, ‘Haste ye Haman—to do the word of Esther;’ and the king cometh in, and Haman, unto the banquet that Esther hath made. ⁶And the king saith to Esther, during the banquet of wine, ‘What is thy petition? and it is given to thee; and what thy request? unto the half of the kingdom—and it is done.’ ⁷And Esther answereth and saith, ‘My petition and my request is: ⁸if I have found grace in the eyes of the king, and if unto the king it be good, to give my petition, and to perform my request, the king doth come, and Haman, unto the banquet that I make for them, and to-morrow I do according to the word of the king.’

⁹And Haman goeth forth on that day rejoicing and glad in heart, and at Haman’s seeing Mordecai in the gate of the king, and he hath not risen nor moved for him, then is Haman full of fury against Mordecai. ¹⁰And Haman forceth himself, and cometh in unto his house, and sendeth, and bringeth in his friends, and Zeresh his wife, ¹¹and Haman recounteth to them the glory of his wealth, and the abundance of his sons, and all that with which the king made him great, and with which he lifted him up above the heads and servants of the king. ¹²And Haman saith, ‘Yea, Esther the queen brought none in with the king, unto the feast that she made, except myself, and also for to-morrow I am called to her, with the king, ¹³and all this is not profitable to me, during all the time that I am seeing Mordecai the Jew sitting in the gate of the king.’ ¹⁴And Zeresh his wife saith to him, and all his friends, ‘Let them prepare a tree, in height fifty cubits, and in the morning speak to the king, and they hang Mordecai on it, and go thou in with the king unto the banquet rejoicing;’ and the thing is good before Haman, and he prepareth the tree.

Chapter 6